


The Burdens We Bear

by dinoknightmyte



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Canon-Typical Discussions of Trauma, M/M, Multi, Post-Canon, Reconciliation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2020-12-13 19:16:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21002807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dinoknightmyte/pseuds/dinoknightmyte
Summary: “What, am I your heir?” He laughed, but trailed off at the expression on the man’s face. Fuck.“One of them.”“What?!” He stared at the man, incredulous. “You’re joking, right?”or: when Yusaku runs late, Takeru and Ryoken are forced to actually talk without a buffer for once.





	The Burdens We Bear

Takeru took a deep breath. In, out. It was all going to be fine. Yes, he hated Revo— Ryoken. Ryoken. They weren’t in VRAINS. Yes, he hated Ryoken, but they both loved Yusaku, and that meant they’d both play nice. Any second now, their shared boyfriend would arrive and they’d be on their way to what hopefully wouldn’t be the world’s most awkward triple date.

He didn’t know what Yusaku saw in the cyberterrorist, but it wasn’t his business to understand. What mattered was that Yusaku was smart, and brave, and had the most beautiful green eyes, and...

His phone dinged, breaking him out of his thoughts. _some kind of accident. u-line is out of service. I__’ll be late._

If he was still at the U-Line Station, he would’ve been atrociously late anyways. Ugh. Well, no point in sticking around outside Ryoken’s huge-ass house. Might as well head down to the cliffs and see if there were any birds to watch. Couldn’t be worse than standing out here.

But no sooner did he turn than the front door opened, revealing — of course — Ryoken. He looked as annoyingly hot as ever, his snowy hair carefully combed to look like he never combed it at all, but in a hot way. The thin black turtleneck he wore might’ve covered his skin, but it did nothing to disguise how well-built he was, his delicate strength. _He _didn’t wear dorky green glasses. _He _probably had 20/20 vision.

Takeru barely resisted the urge to groan, but the intent was loud and clear anyways.

“Is Yusaku not here yet?”

“Train problems. He said he’d be a bit.”

Ryoken sighed. “I should’ve asked Genome to pick him up. I’ll admit, I don’t quite understand how the public transportation system runs so poorly when it’s all automated anyways.”

“Would you want to ride in a car with Dr. Genome?”

“Of course. He’s a better driver than Asō and Kyoko. I’ll admit he can be a little... unusual, but he doesn’t road rage. Would you like to come in?”

“Nah. I don’t want to impose.”

“It’s no imposition. It’s chilly out today, and Yusaku would be furious if I let you catch a cold. You can sit and watch television; you don’t have to put up with me.”

Small miracles. Tempting. “You know that’s not how colds work, right? Like, I’m not the brightest, and even _I _know that.”

“It’s the principle of the thing. Would you rather develop hypothermia? You may be on fire in the digital realm, but I’m afraid we’re all bound by reality here.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He rolled his eyes. “Since you insist.”

The inside of the house was as ostentatious as the outside; though they’d met here before, he’d never actually come in. The idea of invading the private space of a man he hated was too uncomfortable. But here he was, admiring the good taste in furniture. “How rich _is _your family?”

“Less than we used to be, but money never really goes away once you have enough of it.” Ryoken raised an eyebrow. “Are you planning on offing me for my fortune?”

“What, am I your heir?” He laughed, but trailed off at the expression on the man’s face. Fuck.

“One of them.”

“_What?!_” He stared at the man, incredulous. “You’re joking, right?”

He shook his head. “It’s not because you’re dating Yusaku, don’t worry. When I die, the Kogami fortune will be split between the remaining survivors of the Lost Incident, with an additional share split between the Knights, if they manage to outlive me. Genome bemoans that I don’t mean to have children, but—“

“Fuckin’ hell, man, and you didn’t tell us?”

“I didn’t want to remind anyone of what happened, or make them feel indebted to me in some sense. It would also have been unfortunate if anyone were to realize I was not planning on living much longer and look into why.”

It was the brutal honesty he was coming to expect from Revolver, but it still stung. He wanted to get along with the man — if only for Yusaku’s sake — but _damn _if he didn’t want to wipe that knowing look off his face. Like he could ever understand. “You didn’t think we had the right to know? It’s not like you can _remind _us of it; we’re not about to forget. You _never _forget something like that.”

“My hope was always that everyone — save Spectre, at least — would move on and let me settle the whole affair. That after the Ignis were gone, and the Kogami line laid to rest, you might be able to heal.” He looked away. “Yusaku has shown me the error of my ways. Just being around him, really. But I didn’t want to insert myself into the lives of the rest of you.”

“It’s not like it’s stopped you with Yusaku and I. I don’t know why he puts up with you.”

“Neither do I.” There was something almost _vulnerable _in his tone, in the way he shied back, like a child waiting for the other shoe to drop. Like someone who was used to having things taken from him. “But he does, and I’ll enjoy his company as long as he’ll give it to me. Eventually he’ll see better, I’m sure, but—“

“Are you stupid?” He fought the urge to grab him by the shoulders and shake him. “Yusaku’s crazy about you. He’s been in love with you since he was six. You could kill a man in front of him and he’d just give you that disappointed look.”

“He doesn’t understand who I am. If he did, he’d leave in a heartbeat. Someday, he’ll heal enough to look past a childish attachment and realize he’s better off without me.”

“Yeah, and Spectre’ll shut up about trees.” He rolled his eyes. “This is what I can’t stand about you, you know?”

“Hm?” Ryoken met his gaze. “I assumed it was my family name. Or my involvement.”

“You can’t help how you’re born, and I don’t think you can really help what you do when you’re eight, either. You were at our side, in the end. I’ll never be past the Lost Incident, but... Yusaku’s right, we were all kids. And he and I grew up.” It was hard to admit, hard to move past that rage, but Kogami’s corpse, Kogami’s grave, settled it a bit in his heart, and kicking face in VRAINS settled a lot more. Not that he still didn’t want to punch that smirk off Ryoken’s face, but... “What I can’t stand about you is that you didn’t.”

Ryoken stared at him like he’d grown two more heads, at a complete loss for words. It was a good look on him.

“You didn’t,” he continued. “You still act like you’re a scared eight-year-old doing whatever your papa tells you, and whenever you get the guts to do the right thing you drown yourself in guilt over it. You’re older than I am, for fuck’s sake; why can’t you grow up and realize it’s past time you learn to think for yourself and take some responsibility!”

“I have taken responsibility!” Ryoken raised his voice, practically shouted, and Takeru’s heart beat faster: _finally_, some humanity! “If I hadn’t taken responsibility, I wouldn’t’ve lead the Hanoi. I wouldn’t have fought the Ignis. I would’ve gotten on my boat and sailed somewhere far away and turned my back on all of this.”

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about! You can’t _take responsibility _for the Lost Incident — maybe your “knights” can, maybe everyone at SOL who looked the other way can, maybe everyone who took bribes to keep it out of the media can, but what you need to take responsibility for is what _you _do! Not by crying about it, not by making big promises you won’t keep, not by acting like it’s the end of the goddamn world! Just... move forward with the rest of us, and try to create a world where the Lost Incident wouldn’t happen.”

“I can’t!” A sharp intake of breath. “I can’t move past it! When I see everything we’ve fought for and everything my family created, when I think about all those people collapsing in VRAINS beneath Bohman’s work, when I remember we created sentient life forms only to kill them, when I glimpse for a second the sheer weight of the Tower, it kills me! How could I ever forget? All I can do is atone.”

“So? When I remember those white walls, it kills me too! When I remember dueling Bohman, it _burns_! But you can’t heal without committing to healing! It’s not about forgetting — someday, if you really work at it, you won’t want to forget anymore!” He glared at the man. “Yusaku won’t say this shit to you. But I’m not afraid. You need to make a commitment to you. Not to me, not to him, not to your dad. You.”

“A commitment? To what? This is my burden to bear.”

“It’s not about bearing burdens! What do I need to do to get it through your thick skull that being a better person isn’t about guilt, it’s about what you do _now_?”

“I just want you to do what you really want!” Ryoken stared at him, expression hard. “You don’t want to put up with me. You do for Yusaku, and I’m very grateful for that, but he’s not here right now. So what I really want you to do is just... stop pretending, okay? I know what you wanted with me, before Windy.”

“You want me to do whatever I want? Fine!”

And he closed the gap between them.

Ryoken seemed completely stunned as he pulled the man close, lips meeting. There was nothing gentle about the way he shoved their faces together, nothing gentle about the intimacy between them, no uncertainty as his hands wandered. But though Ryoken didn’t push him away, he made no moves of his own.

Takeru pulled away. “I’m not sorry. You did ask.”

“Why?” Ryoken asked, and his voice was — _almost _vulnerable.

All he could do was shrug. “I don’t think about why I do stuff. I just do it. You should try it sometime.”

“You don’t even know why you’d kiss the man who led you to—?”

“Fuck, I didn’t know why I kissed Yusaku, the first time I did it. Didn’t plan on it, that’s for sure. You’ve talked about the Ignis having instinct, what it meant. Have you ever stopped to listen to yours?”

Ryoken didn’t answer.

“I didn’t think so. I’m not telling you I forgive anyone. I don’t. I don’t even know if I forgive you. But we’re safe now, actually safe. And I’m trying to learn how to actually _feel _like it. So let go of being a Kogami for one night and try just existing, alright? Existing with me, existing with Yusaku, growing the fuck up for once. You’re a self-righteous bastard with a martyr complex, and I’m an angry jackass who picks fights. But we don’t have to be. We can leave it behind.”

Ryoken looked at him, really looked at him. “Can we?”

“Yusaku tells me you once called you two prisoners of destiny. Which — that’s such a kid thing, man. There’s no destiny telling you anything, anymore. There’s just me sharing my dumbass opinions, and if you don’t like them, well, nobody asked you.”

“And what, in your opinion, do we do now? Keep dancing around each other? Keep playing games? Keep—“

“I think you know what I’d like to do,” Takeru said, and this time Ryoken met him halfway.


End file.
